NPTEL Course: Introduction to Research

Week 7: Sample Problems

1) Scope of hypothesis testing concerns with-

a) Parameters of probability distribution of population
b) Parameters of probability distribution of sample
c) It relies on data contained in the sample taken from population of interest
d) All of the above
1) Answers: a, c

2) A normal probability Distribution function is symmetric about-

a) Standard Deviation (SD) b) Mean c) SD*Mean d) SD-Mean
2) Answers: b

3) Coefficient of Determination is said to be unity when -

a) Error Sum of Squares is zero
b) Total Sum of Squares is zero
c) Regression Sum of Squares is zero
d) Regression Sum of Squares is same as Total Sum of Squares
3) Answers: a, d

4) The probability density function describes the following-

a) Probability of a phenomenon occurring in macro scale
b) Probability of a phenomenon occurring in micro scale
c) Distribution of probabilities in the continuous random variable domain
d) Distribution of probabilities in some particular set of undefined variables
4) Answers: c

5) During Response Surface Methodology’s Canonical Analysis involving two factors,

maximum response is said to be achieved when theeigenvalues of the B matrix are
a) all positive b) all negative c) all zero
d) such that one is positive and the other is negative
5) Answers: b

6) Experiments are conducted in laboratories to

a) verify scientific predictions
b) obtain trends when theory is not known
c) Find effect of different variables on the desired response
d) All of the above
6) Answers: d

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7) Despite meticulous planning and execution, repeated experiments with accurately
calibrated instruments often yield varying results due to:
a) Systematic influences from environmental factors
b) Uncontrollable random effects
c) Extreme fluctuations in system properties
d) None of the above
7) Answers: b

8) When you do experiments repeatedly you should analyse

a) the average value of the responses only
b) the variability in the responses only
c) neither the average nor variability
d) both average of the responses and the variability in them
8) Answers: d
Both average of the responses and the variability in them: Analyzing both the average and
variability provides a comprehensive understanding of the data generated from the
experiments.

1. Average of the Responses: The average value gives you a central tendency of your data,
which is a crucial aspect to understand the general behavior or outcome of the
experiment. It provides a single value representation of the data which is useful for
comparison purposes.
2. Variability in the Responses: The variability, on the other hand, gives insight into the
spread or dispersion of the data points. This is essential for understanding the
consistency and reliability of the results. It helps in assessing the precision and the
repeatability of the experiments.

9) The average estimated from a data collection is 50 cm. The quantity (quantities) which has
the same units of the data is(are)
a) Standard deviation
b) median
c) mode
d) All of the above
9) Answer: d
All of the above. All these statistical measures - standard deviation, median, and mode - are
expressed in the same units as the data, which in this case is centimetres. Therefore, the
answer is d) All of the above.

1. Standard Deviation (a): The standard deviation is a measure of the amount of variation
or dispersion of a set of values. It is expressed in the same units as the data because it is
derived from the square root of the variance (which is calculated using the original units
of the data).

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 2. Median (b): The median is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a
data sample. Since it's a value from the dataset or an average of two values from the
dataset, it is expressed in the same units as the data.
3. Mode (c): The mode is the value that appears most frequently in a data set. Like the
median, it's a value from the dataset, and so it is also expressed in the same units as the
data.

10) Sample collected from an instrument giving binary data has the following values
{1,-1,-1,1,1,-1}
Mean of the above data set is
a) -1
b) 0
c) 1
d) 3
10) Answer: b

11) Sample collected from an instrument giving binary data has the following values
{1,-1,-1,1,1,-1}
Sample standard deviation (s) of the above data set is
a) -1
b) 0
c) 1.095
d) 1.200
11) Answers: c

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12) Sample collected from an instrument giving binary data has the following values {1,-1,-
1,1,1,-1} median of the above data set is
a) 0
b) 1
c) -1
d) 2
12) Answers: a
Explanation: First arrange the data in numerical order, from least to greatest: −1,−1,−1,1,1,1
Even number of observations (6), the median will be the average of the 3rd and 4th values.
Median = (−1+1)2 = 0
Median = 2(−1+1) = 0
So, the median of the data set is 0.

13) Sample collected from an instrument giving binary data has the following values
{1,−1,−1,1,1,−1,1} median of the above data set is
a) 0
b) 1
c) -1
d) 2
13) Answers: b
Explanation: Sort the data in ascending order: -1,-1,-1,1,1,1,1
Odd number of observations (7), the median is the value at the middle, which is the 4th value.
Therefore, the median of the data set is 1.

14) Sample collected from an instrument giving binary data has the following values
{1,-1,-1,1,1,-1}. Variance of the above data set is
a) 1 b) 1.2 c) 1.5 d) 1.8

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15)When two random variables X and Y are independent, then the expected value for E(X)
may be found from the expected values E(Y) and E(XY) in the following manner
a) E(X) = E(XY) - E(Y)
b) E(X) =E(XY)/E(Y)
c) E(X)= E(XY) +E(Y)
d) E(X) =E(XY) . E(Y)
15) Accepted Answers: b) E(X) = E(XY)/E(Y)
Explanation: The statement given in option b) is correct when X and Y are independent random
variables. The relationship between the expected values of X, Y, andXY can be expressed as
follows:
E(XY)=E(X)E(Y)
Now, if we want to solve for E(X), we can rearrange the formula to isolate E(X) on one side of
the equation:
E(X)=E(XY)/E(Y)
This equation shows that the expected value of X can be found by dividing the expected value
of XY by the expected value of Y, which corresponds to option b) E(X)=E(XY)/E(Y).

16)In a normal distribution, the following property is valid

a) the mean of the distribution is always 0
b) it approaches the t-distribution as the limits of the normal distribution are widened
c) the distribution is symmetric about its mean
d) None of the above
16) Accepted Answers: c) the distribution is symmetric about its mean

17)In a factorial design, the 24 design strategy was chosen. This means
a) Number of experiments is 16
b) Each of the two variables is varied at four levels
c) After the test, ANOVA will NOT be able to detect ternary interaction effects between the
variables
d) None of the above
17) Accepted Answers: a) Number of experiments is 16

18) In a statistical design of experiments study, the effects of two factors A and B were
analysed at two levels. It was found that when A was changed from its low to high setting at
the fixed lower level of B, the change in response was an increase of 10 units. Now when A is
changed from its low setting to high setting at the fixed higher level of B, the change in
response was a decrease of 10 units. This means that
a) there is no interaction between A and B
b)A interacts with B but B does not interact with A
c) B interacts with A but A does not interact with B
d) there is negative interaction between factors A and B
18) Accepted Answers: d) there is negative interaction between factors A and B

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19) In hypothesis testing,
a) wrongly rejecting the null hypothesis is a more serious mistake than wrongly accepting it
b) wrongly accepting the null hypothesis is a more serious mistake than wrongly rejecting it
c) wrongly accepting a null hypothesis is equivalent to accepting the alternate hypothesis
d) correctly accepting null hypothesis means that alternate hypothesis is incorrectly rejected
19) Accepted Answers: a) wrongly rejecting the null hypothesis is a more serious mistake
than wrongly accepting it.

20) In an one-tailed hypothesis test, with the level of significance α is set to 0.05. In order for
a particular effect to be significant, the p-value of the test should be
a) exactly 0.05
b) above 0.05
c) below 0.05
d) exactly 0.025
20) Accepted Answers: c) below 0.05
Explanation: In a one-tailed hypothesis test with a significance level (α) set to 0.05, for the test
to be considered significant, the p-value should be below 0.05. This means that the observed
data should provide strong enough evidence to reject the null hypothesis at the 0.05
significance level. If the p-value is equal to or less than 0.05, you would reject the null
hypothesis in favor of the alternative hypothesis.

21) When data are fitted to a model then increasing number of model parameters is
penalized by the
a) R2 criterion
b) adjusted R2 criterion
c) Sum of squares of the residuals
d) Sum of absolute residuals
21) Accepted Answers: b) adjusted R2 criterion

22)In a typical central composite design, the repeats are performed

a) to obtain an estimate of the random experimental error
b) at the centre of the experimental design space
c) to help in identifying model curvature
d) All of the above
22) Accepted Answers: d) All of the above

23) In a central composite design, involving two factors A and B, the response surface is
described by a quadratic model. If the effect of interaction between A and B is only absent,
the relevant significant effects are from
a) A only
b) A and B only
c) A, B, A2 and B2
d) A, B, A2, B2, A3 and B3
23) Accepted Answers: c) A, B, A2 and B2

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24) In a normal distribution with parameter μand σ^2, the
a) mean ≠ median ≠ mode
b) distribution is not symmetric about the mean
c) mean is always zero
d) none of the above
24) Accepted Answers: d) None of the above

25)

a) ∫ 0 ∞ f(θ) − 0
b) ∫ 0 ∞ f(θ) −∞
c) ∫ 0 ∞ f(θ) − 1
d) ∫ 0 ∞ f(θ) − τ
25) Answers: c) ∫ 0 ∞ f(θ) − 1

26)The mean value of the distribution, is

a) τ
b) 0
c) ∞
d) τ/2
26) Answer: a) τ